


Reborn of Nature

by HawthornShadow



Category: Sanders Sides (Web Series)
Genre: Alternate Universe, Gen, Immortality, Temporary Character Death
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-01-27
Updated: 2019-01-27
Packaged: 2019-10-17 16:23:37
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,988
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17563931
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/HawthornShadow/pseuds/HawthornShadow
Summary: A young man in a new town, Virgil is just trying to find his way in world. Luckily he has some new friends to help him out.If only he knew what they were hiding.





	Reborn of Nature

_"Roman!"_

_"Wait for me."_

_Virgil flinched as Roman's body burst into flames._

* * *

 

Virgil wasn't sure when it had started. He looked around himself to find he was surrounded by friends, by everyone he knew in the small town he had moved out to.

He watched as Patton dove in for a hug from Logan, only for the man to deftly step to the side and send Patton flying into Roman's arms. Roman was quick to spin Patton in a circle. Roman set Patton down and they both burst into laughter, Logan smiling at the scene as Deceit snickered behind a gloved hand.

Warmth filled Virgil's chest. Perhaps it was more than friendship.

* * *

 

He had met Logan first. The library had been a safe haven of sorts for Virgil when he had first moved into town. Once he had worked up the initial courage to enter the foreboding building, nothing could remove him from the small table in the back corner of the ground floor. It was dark, off-putting to anyone but Virgil, and therefore perfect.

Until one day as he was browsing on his phone, an older man approached the table. Virgil was immediately on edge, the man carried an aura of authority, someone who would take no shit in his black polo shirt and tie, his glasses glinting as he looked down at Virgil.

But the man, instead of throwing Virgil out of the building for whatever reason Virgil's mind was cooking up, merely asked if he could share the table.

There was space, and Virgil didn't want to seem rude by saying no.

The man was back the next day, and the next. He never said anything beyond asking if he could sit with Virgil, each time with a different book.

As Virgil grew accustomed to his presence he calmed down. The company was... nice, if odd. And then one day their peaceful quiet was broken by one of the most obnoxious men Virgil had ever had the displeasure of meeting.

* * *

 

Virgil glanced over at Roman. Both he and Patton had relocated to the couch, sitting next to Deceit. Logan meanwhile had moved to the armrest, nose deep in a book Virgil had helped him pick out earlier that day.

Thinking back, Roman had made one hell of a first impression.

* * *

 

"Logan!"

Virgil ignored the shout, doing his best to avoid meeting the speaker's eye. It was all for naught though, when the man's arm landed around Virgil's tablemate's shoulders.

"I should have known you'd be hiding back here! The light still getting to you?"

Virgil's companion sighed and closed his book, reluctantly giving the new man his attention.

"Yes, Roman. As you know it always will. What are you doing here?"

"Patton told me to find you. Something about a leak at home and needing your expertise."

"He does know I have a phone, does he not?"

"He knows, but I volunteered to fetch you. Needed a quest to break up the boredom."

"Maybe if you got a job-"

"Hey, who's your friend, Logan?" Roman cut Logan off mid-sentence, turning his attention to Virgil. Virgil realised he'd been actively eavesdropping for the past couple of minutes, his fingers unmoving over his phone screen, even as his gaze remained directed at it. Reluctantly he raised his head.

"You don't have to answer tha-"

"Virgil."

Roman ignored Logan getting frustrated that people kept cutting him off, instead offering a hand.

"Virgil, huh? Prince Roman, at your service."

Virgil raised an eyebrow, even as he took Roman's hand and hoped his palms weren't sweaty.

"Prince?"

"Of a sort."

Logan coughed to catch Roman's attention.

"Perhaps we should be going?"

"Right, right. See you later, Virgil. Or not. Probably not."

Virgil watched Roman and Logan leave, Roman impatiently walking ahead of Logan, and tried not to think on the ominous phrasing of Roman's goodbye.

* * *

 

Shifting as Patton's weight moved against him and away from Roman's tickle-threatening fingers, Virgil could only laugh internally at just how wrong Roman had been.

* * *

 

Virgil didn't see Logan for a few days after meeting Roman, but three days later he met Patton.  
Which is to say, he met Deceit and meeting Patton followed shortly after.

Virgil had been on his weekly grocery shop. He was walking quite quickly, the routine of what to get as familiar as his desire to return home, when he collided with the back of a stranger and became immediately mortified.

The glancing hit sent Virgil spinning to the ground, whilst the stranger managed to keep his footing. Virgil glanced at his basket and breathed a sigh of relief that none of the contents had spilled.

"Need a hand?" The stranger reached down and a gloved hand pulled him to his feet. Virgil looked the stranger up and down, taking in his odd outfit choice of yellow gloves, a bowler hat, and a cape, but before he could say anything another voice rang out.

"Oh my goodness, are you okay? That was quite the tumble!" A second man approached Virgil and the stranger. Virgil mumbled out something that he hoped sounded positive, and the new man visibly relaxed.

"I'm glad you're alright, then. I'm Patton, what's your name?"

"... Virgil."

The man in the cape seemed to study Virgil, and Virgil found it unnerving.

"So you're the guy."

"The guy?"

Patton jumped in again.

"Logan's friend."

"You know Logan?"

The man in the cape, who still hadn't introduced himself, smiled.

"We're his housemates, along with Roman, who I believe you've also met?"

"Yeah, we've met."

The man and Patton shared a look, and Virgil felt awkward just standing there, so he tried to beat a hasty retreat.

"Well, it was nice meeting you, but I've got to..." He lifted his basket and pointed away from the two men.

"Oh, yes, of course! It was nice to meet you, Virgil!"

"And you."

Virgil paid for his items and left the store as quickly as possible. It was only once he was home that Virgil realised he hadn't bought everything he went for, and he would have to visit again the next day.

Over the course of a few months, Virgil had kept running in to Logan, Roman, Patton and Deceit (who he finally found out the name of when Logan let it slip). Logan returned to being Virgil's library buddy, apologising for his absence. Roman appeared often after that, dragging Logan away each time and only sparing a few words for Virgil.

Virgil got his first look at their house after running into Patton at the park, quite literally. Patton had always seemed friendly but distant to Virgil up until that point, but after what looked like an internal debate, Patton invited Virgil to their home in order to clean up his hands from where he had grazed them on the pavement.

Deceit had ducked his head into the bathroom whilst Patton tended to Virgil's wounds, only offering a quick,

"I knew it!" before leaving again.

Virgil looked to Patton, but the other man avoided his gaze and so Virgil dropped his question.

A couple of months passed of chance encounters and regular meetings with Logan, and then Logan extended an invitation for Virgil to spend the evening with all of them at their home.

He assured Virgil it was just a casual event, and Virgil would be free to leave at any time, so Virgil turned up a few minutes early, prepared to wait until the exact time he said he'd arrive on their doorstep.

He could hear muffled voices from inside, and despite him doing his best no to eavesdrop, a few sentences slipped through.

"We're not meant to get close to people!"

Logan's voice followed Roman's exclamation.

"It's too late for that, it's already starting."

Patton jumped in.

"If it's already starting, then isn't it our duty to help? It's not like we can stop it now."

Unwilling to hear any more, Virgil rang the doorbell. Silence fell inside, then a set of footsteps approached.

Patton opened the door with a smile, as if the argument had been a figment of Virgil's imagination.

"Virgil! Come on in!"

"Um, I brought cookies."

"That's Patton's fealty sworn then."

Patton gestured for Virgil to follow Logan's voice to the living room. He carefully set the cookies down on a side table, before catching Logan's gestures and perching on the edge of a sofa cushion.

"Hi."

The night was nice, and after an hour or so Virgil found himself relaxing. They played games, shared stories, and by the end of it Virgil found himself reluctant to leave. That was until Patton asked,

"Same time next week?"

That first night of hanging out led to many more, and over time the group warmed more and more towards Virgil, even Roman. Over the course of a few weeks he seemed to go from being polite but wanting nothing to do with Virgil, to accepting Virgil as one of his close friends. It was strange, but Virgil wasn't going to complain.

Leading to tonight, where Patton was still dodging Roman's attempts to tickle him. Logan had placed his book to the side and sat on the couch fully, a warm presence at Virgil's back. Virgil glanced around Patton to spot Roman, who hadn't noticed Deceit drawing close behind him, fingers poised at either side of his waist. Patton seemed to notice at the same time as Virgil, and quickly shouted a warning,

“Watch out, kiddo!”

But it was too late. Soon Roman was in tears on the floor as Deceit mercilessly tickled him into submission. Only after Roman admitted defeat, or as close as he was willing to grant which was more of a swearing of vengeance, Deceit and he both climbed back up to the couch to calm down.

It was at this point that Virgil posed a question.

“Patton, why do you call everyone, ‘kiddo’?”

“It's because he is the oldest of all of us.” Logan straightened his posture and turned to face Virgil.

“Really? I would have thought that you were the oldest, Lo’.”

“Logan's the second oldest.” Patton also sat upright. “Roman's third, and Deceit's the baby of the group.”

They all ignored Deceit's hiss at the statement.

“How old are you all, then?”

Patton spoke over Virgil's question.

“But I guess that would be you now, huh, kiddo?”

“How do you know I'm younger than Deceit.”

Roman snorted.

“Trust me, we know.”

It was one of their calmer evenings overall. Towards the end, Patton stepped outside to sort out the bins, and there was the sound of screeching brakes and a car horn that made Virgil jump up from his seat. Despite the others’ reassurances Virgil left the living room, but the sight of Patton in the hallway slowed his racing heart.

“I didn't hear you come back in, Patton. You okay?”

Patton gave a nervous laugh.

“I'm fine, it was just a car going too fast around the block, but they didn't even come close to me. They shouldn't a-zoom the roads will be empty this time of night, though.” Patton's expression was stern, contradicting the pun, and Virgil breathed a sigh of relief.

“I'm just glad you're safe, Patt’.”

“I'm always safe!” There was the sunny smile Virgil had grown to love.

Virgil glanced at the clock and groaned.

“I should be off if I want to get home before midnight. I'll see you later, Patton.” He called out to the living room, “I'm going now, see you!”

Virgil left the house to a chorus of goodbyes, warily keeping an eye out for speeding cars on his way home.

Turning the key in the lock, Virgil flicked on the lights of his small apartment. It was quiet and empty, and often Virgil loved it, but as he settled down for the night he realised he loved someplace else equally.

Virgil fell asleep with a fond smile on his face.

**Author's Note:**

> Everything seems nice and friendly for now, but anyone who knows me knows that it will not stay that way for long.  
> See you next chapter


End file.
